Fighting First Love

Epilogue

The sound of the bedroom door opening brought with it the very sight of the person in question. She put a hand to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears, “Oh my god Lylah, you look beautiful.”

Leah followed in after her, shutting the door as she did then turning to me with an equally tear filled gaze. “Don’t start guys, I’m hanging on by a thread as is,” I said a little shakily

They did their best to reign it in as they approached me, “How’re you feeling?” Leah asked.

“Nervous, but excited.”

“Caleb just might die of a heart attack when he see’s you, although you could probably waltz down that aisle in a potato sack and get the same reaction,” Keri said with an indulgent smile.

We laughed because it was true. My man did love me unconditionally, and I felt the same about him. “He looks good enough to eat, but he’s got nothing on the best man,” Leah added.

Of course she would say that, seeing as her own fiance was the best man. She and Bryce separated after high school, going to college on opposite ends of the United States didn’t give them high hopes of maintaining a relationship. Then when they reunited at our engagement party a year ago, the sparks ignited making them realize they were meant to be together. Bryce transferred back home to finish his last year of school, and they’ve been inseparable ever since. Not surprising, he was now a rookie officer right alongside Caleb. There was just no breaking those two up either.

There was a knock on the door and a familiar brown haired cutie popped his head in, “Lylah, Lance and Leroy asked me to come get you. Said they needed to have a ‘talk’ with you.”

Gone was the completely innocent face of a five year old, and now I looked at the older face of an almost eleven year old Theo. He was going to look exactly like his big brother when he got older, and was already a hit amongst my fifth grade girls. I don’t know how many times I had to confiscate a page of ‘I <3 Theo’ doodles during my lessons. It was either that or stopping a few rowdy boys from launching spitballs at my chalk board.

The joys of being a teacher, I thought with a smile.

I shot a look at Keri and though she still smiled, I noticed a slight strain in her features at the mention of my brother. Maybe there was still a chance for them. “You better hurry, sounds important,” Leah joked.

I rolled my eyes before picking up my dress skirt and following Theo out into the hotel hallway. Standing side by side in matching tuxes, they made a striking picture. Leroy with his almost buzz cut hair and intense gaze, and Lance with a playful glint in his eyes to match his carelessly tousled hair that looked as if he had it styled but I knew he only ran his fingers through it. At least they were both clean shaven. Leroy played ball in the minors for awhile before sustaining a knee injury that took him out of the game for good. He was now working alongside our father in his real estate office while Lance was just about finished with his Veterinary schooling.

“You clean up pretty good,” I teased.